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The Senate Judiciary Committee vote, 13-5, completes an important legislative step for the historic bill. The compromise bill represents the first attempt in nearly 30 years to overhaul the nation’s broken immigration system.

Senator and Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont said the landmark legislation “grants a faster track to the ‘dreamers’ brought to this country as children through no fault of their own.”

Continued Leahy, “The dysfunction in our current immigration system affects all of us and it is long past time for reform. I hope that our history, our values, and our decency can inspire us finally to take action. We need an immigration system that lives up to American values and helps write the next great chapter in American history by reinvigorating our economy and enriching our communities.”

Educators from across the nation, joining with child advocacy groups, religious leaders, civil rights organizations, labor groups and business groups, have weighed in with Congress through tens of thousands petitions, letters, phone calls and personal visits. Next, the bill is expected to move to the full Senate in June, while the House continues to prepare it version.

Arizona math teacher Dennis Van Roekel, speaking on behalf of the 3 million educators who are members of the National Education Association, applauded the Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan leadership in overhauling a system that has been a source of fear and distress for students, families and communities “for far too long.”

We welcome the DREAM Act provision granting a five-year path to citizenship for those who entered the U.S. before age 16 who have either completed high school, earned a G.E.D., earned a college degree or served four years of military service – the most progressive legislative language on the DREAM Act introduced to date. As a country, society will continue to reap the benefits of their hard work, ingenuity and achievements for years to come.

The bipartisan Senate bill also stays true to our country’s ideal of keeping families together by expanding the family unification and reunification provisions.

President Barack Obama, a DREAMer advocate, congratulated the committee for advancing a bill that is “largely consistent with the principles of common-sense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.” The president and Vice President Joe Biden hosted a meeting yesterday morning at the White House with young immigrants and families directly affected by our nation’s broken immigration system.

In addition, during its “mark-up” of proposed amendments to the bill, the committee briefly discussed but did not formally consider the “Little DREAMers” amendment. The Little DREAMers amendment continues to be a priority because it would would shorten the waiting period for America’s youngest DREAMers to five years, the same waiting period under the broader bill that applies to DREAMers who were brought here as children but are now older than 16. DREAMer advocates are hopeful the amendment will be introduced when the immigration bill goes to the Senate floor in June.

Reader Comments

Diane LeggMay 26, 2013 at 8:25 am

. America has a national debt of approximately 14 trillion dollars. About 338.3 billion dollars are spent on illegal immigrants in America annually. Think about the effect this amount could have to stimulate the economy or start paying down the national debt for the real citizens of this country.

-2.5 billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for people who have immigrated to the U.S. unlawfully.
-Against federal law, California currently allows illegal immigrants to receive Medicaid benefits without proof of citizenship.
-I costs states between 11 billion to 22 billion dollars on welfare for illegal aliens every year.
– It costs about 12 billion dollars a year for primary and secondary education for illegal immigrants.
-In California, the Supreme Court’s unanimous vote upheld the state’s 2001 law allowing illegal immigrants to receive in-state college tuition rates.

If we allow illegals to become US citizens, we are rewarding them for breaking our laws and they will have even more benefits at the taxpayers expense.